Apparatus for preventing accidents to railway-vehicles.



No. 674,226. Patented May l4, l90l.

. u. unnsn'r, APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS TC RAILWAY VEHICLES.

(No Model.)

W Z O Z Z Z O O o o O #0 F E e 4 g a a zpr' h v- J UNITED STATES ATENTOFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS T0 RAILWAY-VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,226, dated May 14,1901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HEINRICH UNTIEDT, civil engineer, a subject of theEmperor of Germany, residing at Schweinfurt, Bavaria, in the Empire ofGermany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Preventing Accidents to Railway- Vehicles, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to apparatus designed for preventing accidents torailway-vehicles through the breakage of rails, the train running offthe track, collisions, the breakage of wheels, springs, or the like,whichapparatus will applyan automatic brake on the passage of thelocomotive-engine over the point where the breakage has occurred'or inthe event of some other mishap. I

The apparatus constructed according to my said invention is representedin the accompanying drawings, wherein-- Figure -1 is a view of thedevice, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section; Fig. 2, aside view of a contact-roll forming the chief feature of the improvedapparatus. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement of thecontact-roll on the engine.

Between the two rear axles of the locomotive-engine or else between thelast wheel of the engine and the first wheel of the tender I attach toeither side of the frame a cylinder a, wherein a pressing-rod b isguided. This rod may be square at its lower part and is prevented fromturning by a corresponding hole in the cover fof the cylinder. At itslower extremity the pressing-rod carries a contact-roller d, presseddownward by a spiral spring 6, situated in the interior of the cylindera. spring to bear upon a nut c, screwed upon the rod 1). Thepressing-rod b is made in two parts, connected by a.joint g. Anyaccidental turning movement at the joint 9 is prevented by twoplate-springs h, which press against the two sides of the joint andwhose tension may be varied by screw threaded bolts '5. The upper end ofthe pressing-rod b is attached to one end of a lever is, whose other endis joined to an arm of a connecting-piece Z. The other arm of thisconnect ing-piece is attached to the lever of a similar apparatusarranged on the other side of the It is expedient to allow the spiralApplication filed December 11, 1900. Serial No. 39 ,512. No model.)

engine. The connecting-piecelis connected by a rod m with the valve (notshown) of the airpressure brake.

On the passage of the front wheels of the engine over a point where therails are broken the wheels will either force the broken-rail ends apartor tilt them over. This causes one or both of the rolls d, which usuallyrun upon the top of the rails, to pass from the rail and to be presseddownward by the spring e. It then strikes in the continued movement ofthe engine either upon the ground or upon the uninjured part of thetrack, and owing to this resistance the rod 1) bonds on pin g to therear, one of the springs h yielding to the pressure. After this bendingmovement of the pressing-rod b by reason of its own weight and that ofthe roll the pressure of the spiral spring'moves rod 1) downward to suchan eX- tent that the lever 10 through the medium of the connecting-pieceZ and rod m will move on its pivot and forcing rod m upward will openthe valve of the brake. In consequence of this action the train isstopped within a short distance. When one roller leaves the track, theother will also leave its track, for the reason that all the parts ofthe device are attached by the pivots of the levers rigidly to a fixedpart of the engine, tender, or car, and all must move laterallytogether, causing the displacement of one roller to displace the otheralso. In like manner the breakage of a wheel-tire or of acarrying-spring of the engine will set the apparatus in operation,inasmuch as by the downward pressure the roll turns, in conjunction withthe lower part of the pressing-rod, about the joint, and by the pressureof the spiral spring in the cylinder the upper part of the pressing-rodis forced downward, together with the lever extending to the valve ofthe automatic brake, thereby causing this valve to open.

It is assumed that by the breakage of the tire or the spring the weightof the engine will give rise to a downward movement at this point,because the other tires or springs cannot carry the weight alone.

In the event of the wheels of the locomotive-engine jumping off therails the apparatus will also be set in operation.

This apparatus may be applied to every passenger-carriage,- especiallyof fast trains,

and serve as a safety device. This has particularly for its object tocause the stoppage 0f the train in case a single carriage should run offthe track during a journey.

It will of course be understood that instead of being held inacylindrical guide the rod 1) may be held in any other rectilinearguide.

lVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

The combination with a railway-vehicle, of a slideway rigidly securedthereto on each side above the rails of the track, a rod slidablymounted in each slideway normally springpressed downward, means forsupporting the lower end of each rod to yield in the direction of therear of the vehicle, a roller on the yielding lower end of each rodadapted to run on the rails, a rod an adapted for attachment to theair-brake valve, a connecting-piece Z, and

two levers pivoted centrally to the car, one of HEINRICH UNTIEDT.

W'itnesses:

CARL WEISS, NEWMANN FRANK.

